By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – In his 23 years as county manager, Alex Dudchock has worked at the forefront of Shelby County’s finances, projects and initiatives through various circumstances.

Through it all – economic recessions, tighter budgets, project delays and the like – Dudchock markets Shelby County as one of the most prosperous and desirable areas anywhere.

Dudchock delved into revenues, citizen service opportunities and current and future projects in a “general conditions and happenings” presentation at a South Shelby Chamber of Commerce luncheon March 3.

“We’re hitting our projections, and that’s critical,” he said while reviewing Fiscal Year 2016 revenues for the first four months (October 2015 through January 2016).

The county operates on a nearly $100 million operating budget.

Dudchock said the county’s general fund revenues grew annually by 10 to 12 percent before the economic recession hit in 2008; since then, they have been 1.5 to 2.5 percent.

“Live within your means,” Dudchock said, noting the county had a $4.4 million reduction because of the recession. “We had to address that. We had to do some creative stuff.”

Examples he gave of citizen involvement on boards serving residents countywide were Chilton and Shelby Mental Health, Harrison Regional Library Board, Shelby County Community Health Foundation, Shelby County Department of Human Resources, Shelby County Planning Commission and Shelby County Board of Equalization, Heart of Dixie Railroad and Museum, Owens House and Shelby County Advocacy Center, SafeHouse, Shelby County Arts Council, Shelby Emergency Assistance, Shelby Senior Volunteers in Service, Soil and Water Conservation Service and Salvation Army.

Dudchock touched on major events and projects, two of which are at the University of Montevallo.

“The university is one of our economic catalysts,” he said, noting the university has about 500 employees and roughly 3,000 students.

The new UM lacrosse stadium hosted the first collegiate lacrosse match in Alabama in February.

A major project planned is the construction of a new residential center and hotel and suites at UM.

The residential center would accommodate 62 students with 15 room suites (four bedrooms in each suite, three suites with ADA accessibility) and two resident manager rooms.

The hotel and suites would feature 29 rooms, including two ADA hotel rooms, five suites, two windowless rooms and a conference room on the first floor.

“We are excited about our continued partnership with the University of Montevallo,” Dudchock said. “Our goal is to assist the university in growing the undergraduate enrollment and then retaining the students. The UM Hotel & Suites will assist with lodging demands associated with the University related traffic and events, The American Village, National Veterans Cemetery, area business travel and public or private groups.”

Oak Mountain State Park, which Dudchock called “an important asset to all of us,” will be the site of several projects: New bike lanes on Terrace Drive and Findlay Drive; new restrooms with showers and a pavilion at the equestrian campground; and water-based improvements involving the beach, piers and fish habitat.

Projects at the Shelby County Airport include a hangar for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office helicopter and commercial lease slot; new box hangars for five aircraft; main hangar improvements to accommodate an additional aircraft maintenance tenant; new north-end hangar under design to house 12 aircraft; and new south-end box hangars for four aircraft under design.

In recent IT projects, the county has upgraded its license office services with programs like ShelbyChat, a real-time chat functionality for residents to ask county personnel questions during business hours, and KnowB4UGo, a webpage designed to help residents determine when to visit the license offices based on estimated wait times and real-time feeds of each office’s line.

Regarding upcoming events, the 2016 Senior Picnic will be held at the American Village on June 2.

“You name it, we’ve got an opportunity for you,” Dudchock said.